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China Celebrates Year of The Pig
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1653879:A6F02AD83191E160E87EDCF77AA3365C9574F7DCC14957C0 Astrologers say
2007 is lucky year to have children but other fortune tellers say year
could bring disaster China celebrates the Lunar New Year this week
with family gatherings, fireworks, and traditional temple fairs. Many
Chinese astrologers say 2007 is the year of the "golden pig," a lucky
year to have children but other fortune tellers say the year could
bring disaster. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

China exploded in celebration this weekend as citizens rang in the
Lunar New Year.







Fireworks display in BeijingThis was the first year in decades in
which fireworks were allowed in most cities in China. Residents in
Beijing took advantage of the new rules by flooding into the streets
to light off a barrage of explosive lights and sounds, covering the
streets with cardboard and paper shrapnel and blocking traffic.

The New Year is the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar and
sees the largest migration of people in the world as hundreds of
millions return to their hometowns to spend the New Year with family.

In cities, hundreds of thousands of people flock to parks and temple
grounds to attend quasi-religious carnivals called temple fairs.







Temple Fair dancers Temple fairs are known for their colorful music
and dance performances as well as snack and souvenir sellers.

The fairs, like most events in China, have become quite commercial,
but there is still an overarching theme of traditional religion.

Although the officially atheist Communist Party runs China,
traditional beliefs are widely practiced. A recent national survey
said 300 million Chinese are religious, three times the official
estimate.

The Ditan park temple fair in central Beijing features a recreation of
Qing dynasty emperor Qianlong offering sacrifices to the god of the
earth.

Chinese also burn incense and pray at Buddhist and Taoist temples,
asking for wealth, good luck, and happiness.







Matchmaking photo resumesAt the Ditan park temple fair an online
dating service has set up a matchmaking event - parents of single
children hang their photo resumes on clotheslines to advertise for
potential mates.

Miao is 60-years-old and is trying to find a suitor for her
26-year-old daughter.

She says her daughter's office is full of women and she is too busy to
find a boyfriend. Miao says she is not in a hurry for her daughter to
marry, but hopes she can find a suitable mate who will make her happy.







Young boy plays with used fireworks in village north of Beijing, 20
Feb. 2007Many Chinese want to their children to be born this year
because some astrologers say this is a "golden pig" year, which only
comes around once every 60 years. Chinese mystics say children born
this year are supposed to have easy and happy lives.

But many Chinese fortune tellers, especially in the southern city of
Hong Kong, warn this actually is a fire pig year - dominated by the
natural but conflicting elements fire and water. They say that means
2007 will see an increase in worldwide natural disasters and violence.


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